Roche has agreed to pay shareholders $160 up front and up to $40 million to buy diabetes pump developer Medingo from Elron Electronics. The move is part of Roche's plan to increase its diabetes offerings.
Medingo's diabetes tech has two parts: A semi-disposable insulin dispensing patch and a remote control, which allows for insulin delivery. Users can adjust insulin release with the remote control, and the pump can be temporarily disconnected from the patch. The patch pump isn't on the market, but Roche hopes to launch the technology globally by 2012 if approved.
"The integration of Medingo is a perfect fit to our existing diabetes management product portfolio," says Burkhard Piper, head of Roche Diabetes Care. "Offering an innovative micro patch pump will bring our competence in the area of integrated insulin delivery systems to a broader range of people with diabetes on insulin therapy, providing a greater choice to meet the different individual needs."
- here's Roche's release